Arts & Culture

After filmmaker Cynthia Weber saw the post-9/11 spin ads featuring citizens of various races declaring their patriotism, she created her own ad and video series documenting the experiences of “forgotten” Americans — including political refugee Phil McDowell, Hurricane Katrina evacuees, an undocumented immigrant, and Minutemen founder Chris Simcox. Weber will…

If a grown man told us that he had a comic-book character named BopBagBill for an alter ego – a persona with “the same attributes as an anti-hero who sometimes gets involved with heroic acts, but [who] mainly is a character that works as an agonist” – we’d look for…

The granddaughter of Dashiell Hammett discusses the author and his run-ins with Red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy in this event held in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts’ “Big Read” salute to Hammett’s book The Maltese Falcon. Mon., Sept. 29, 7 p.m., 2008…

If the Arizona Renaissance Festival and Dungeons and Dragons produced a love child that was then raised by a haunted house, it would end up resembling Shadowlands, a Halloween-themed scare-a-thon filled with costumes, role-playing, and a heavy dose of the heebie-jeebies. Visitors can participate in a series of interactive and…

Those who think Rush wrote the line “All the world’s a stage” won’t know, or care, that Southwest Shakespeare Company has taken certain liberties with the Bard’s great comedy As You Like It, SSC’s season opener. On the other hand, those who believe it’s heresy to tinker with Shakespeare –…

There’s nothing like being in a public place without the public. We’ve achieved this higher state of being twice, and we’re not about to tell you where or how. Find your own deserted public crib to crash. As an example, take the Phoenix Zoo, a facility that’s difficult to navigate…

One of the art world’s greatest tragedies is scheduled to take place at 12 a.m. January 1, 2010. That’s when the Polaroid goes kaput. In case you haven’t heard, the cats behind the instant-film enterprise are only making enough consumer product to last through the end of 2009. There’s a…

If victory is a drug, then Kerri Walsh must be a hardcore addict. After all, the 6-foot-3 professional beach-volleyball player has amassed more than 100 wins on both the AVP and FIVB tours with longtime partner Misty May-Treanor, and has scored gold in back-to-back Olympics (including the Beijing games). Walsh…

Author Steve Almond has made a mint satisfying his oral fixations, and he didn’t even need kneepads to do it. A self-proclaimed chocoholic, Almond dove into the luscious, chocolate-coated underbelly of the sweets industry in his nonfiction book Candyfreak, satisfying his love for language with several witty collections that border…

It’s getting harder to pull off that old argument about Phoenix not having any culture, especially when the arts season here is so significant that it rates its own kickoff celebration. Phoenix Art Museum’s Urban Affair is being called “the Valley’s premier urban living event,” and that, as they say,…

Despite being the writer/director of the cult blaxploitation spoof Pootie Tang and the long-time, Emmy-winning collaborator of Chris Rock, Louis C.K. has never been widely known. But suddenly, there he was, starring in – and subsequently fuming publicly over the quick cancellation of – HBO’s Lucky Louie. As of October…

It doesn’t take an archaeological genius like Indiana Jones to decipher the messages embedded in the lyrics of Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. Even the band has admitted that its completely fictional language, Volenska, is a bunch of gibberish that doesn’t quite mean anything, yet seems to “fit perfectly with…

Few artists have gone through more reinventions than this Mexican-born guitarist has, going from his Latin-jam days fueled by his unforgettable appearance in the Woodstock movie to his lackluster days in the 80s (even though his band was still considered a top live act) and his resurgence after his multi-Grammy…

Gigantic, pissed-off chickens with teeth. That’s the impression created by the imposing models on display in the “Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origins of Flight” exhibit. After you check out these dentally impressive fowl, run for your life to Arizona Science Center and marvel at the computer-controlled dino-matrons galore featured in…

The culinary blowout, held in conjunction with the release of New Times’ annual Best of Phoenix issue, showcases 25 past Best of Phoenix restaurant winners. There’ll also be a beer tasting and live entertainment. Proceeds benefit Just for the Kids Foundation. Cocktail attire required. Sat., Sept. 27, 7-11:30 p.m., 2008…

The Pulitzer Prize winner (A Thousand Acres) reads from and signs her books. Sat., Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m., 2008…

The autumnal equinox comes tonight, officially bringing the beginning of Fall, and kicking off the countdown to the season’s biggest holiday, Halloween.

This is the year that woodland creatures with explosive diarrhea saved video games. On rare occasion do gamers end up playing a product untouched by outside interests, delivered exactly as the artists intended. For that product to be fantastic, too, is gravy. For the game to include a character called…

Sean Tretta (The Great American Snuff Film, Death Factory: Bloodletting) directed this spooky, low-budget 2007 flick about a ghost chaser who’s hired to determine if a house is truly haunted or not. Fri., Sept. 19, 8 p.m., 2008…